1-minute hike: Day Mountain in Acadia National Park

How to get there: Drive to Seal Harbor. To get to Seal Harbor, cross the bridge onto Mount Desert Island and take a right at the fork. Follow Route 102 until it reconnects with Route 3. Turn left at that fork and continue on Route 3 to Seal Harbor. Not long after the town of Seal Harbor is a small gravel parking lot on the right side of the road. Across from the parking lot, on the left side of the road, is a cedar post sign that marks the trailhead to Day Mountain. Take the trail 0.8 miles to the summit, and each time you reach a carriage road, cross it. If looking for a longer route, take the trail 0.8 miles to the summit and continue down the other side of the mountain. The trail will reach a carriage road connected by a stone bridge to a second carriage road. Follow the first carriage road (left or right) around the mountain and it will reconnect with the trail you climbed up on (on the left, marked be a cedar post). Take that back down to the parking lot.

Information: Day Mountain on Mount Desert Island is 583 feet above sea level, and although it’s certainly not the tallest mountain on Mount Desert Island, it offers spectacular views of the surrounding terrain and ocean. About 0.5 miles up, the trees open up to a large granite resting spot with almost a 360-degree view.

Personal Note: Steve Hathaway, a longtime resident of the MDI area, suggested this hike to me. I hiked on a sunny Friday, Dec. 17, 2011, and the temperature was nearly 50 degrees. I traveled up, down and around the mountain easily and without getting lost. When at the outlook near the summit, I ran into man who told me that he thinks Day Mountain is the most beautiful place in the park. Warning: This “One-minute hike” video is a little goofy.

Photo by Aislinn Sarnacki. The sky reflects on a pool of water near the summit of Day Mountain on Mount Desert Island on Dec. 16, 2011. The outlook offers an open view of surrounding mountains and the ocean.